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ANDY Last was delighted to see his hull FC side see off hull Kr in his first derby as head coach of the Black and Whites.
FC were simply too good for their cross-city rivals at the Totally Wicked Stadium, running in six tries to rack up a convincing 31-16 victory over the robins.
The win was hull’s third straight Super League success and their fourth in october to keep their hopes of reaching the play-offs alive.
Last, though, was just relieved to see his side come out on top in his first derby as head coach.
“It was a strange one,” Last said after watching his side lift the Clive Sullivan Trophy. “It’s a horrible feeling sat in the stands, we scored and then they came back at us, they had some momentum, it was not a nice feeling.
“It was nice to get on the right side of the result and nice to say I won my first home game as interim head coach and first derby.
“We spoke about hull Kr being dangerous the way they play, we had to be on our guard, I thought they shaded that in the first 30 minutes.
“There was a period before halftime with the introduction with
Danny houghton, Ligi Sao and Chris Satae, that allowed us to get momentum through the ruck and we marched them up the field. In the second half we were more comfortable and we needed to make sure our attention was good and make sure we didn’t get caught out.
“It was a pleasing performance because it wasn’t easy and we came out the other side of it which is good for us moving forward.”
Josh Griffin missed the game through coronavirus protocols, while FC fans will have shown concern when they saw star performer Jake Connor limp off late in the second half with a knee injury.
Last has moved to allay any fears of a serious injury, though.
he added: “his knee got caught in a bit of an awkward position and obviously he’s had a couple of problems with his knee and he got caught underneath him. Just as a precaution we took him off.”
David hodgson says Kr’s defeat was hard to take after an improved performance.
“It’s disappointing to lose any derby, albeit on the other side of the country with no fans,” said assistant coach hodgson. “It’s a hard one to take.